The gym can get quite crowded at peak times during the day. In order to ensure that a school gym or a local gym remain a safe place for children and adults, it is well worth considering installing high quality safety padding.
The most popular padding for use within the gym is wall padding. High quality wall padding, if installed correctly, can not only enhance your gym's appearance, it can also provide the necessary safety measures to prevent all types of injuries, from broken bones to more serious head injuries.
However, wall padding is only safe and effective when it is well maintained. Like other materials, the mats can get worn out over time and can tear, rip or lose thickness. Therefore it's important that gym managers take the time to regularly inspect wall padding to ensure it meets the highest of safety standards.
If you're uncertain if your gym wall padding is entirely safe, there are certain precautions you can take. Below, we outline some of the things you should look out for:
General appearance
There are often signs of wear and tear on wall padding that are not immediately visible without closer inspection. Look over your safety padding very carefully and take note of its general appearance. For example, are there any rips, tears or missing pieces? Is it still attached to the wall correctly? Over time, the needs for your gym may change and evolve. At this point you must ask yourself if the wall padding remains wide enough and high enough to protect athletes? If you do not feel that your current wall padding serves its original purpose, or you find that it is damaged, you may need a replacement.
Corners, beams and columns
As well as inspecting your wall padding, you should also pay special attention to the safety padding along the corners, beams and columns for the wall. These areas can be particularly hazardous for athletes who may regularly fly off the central floor mat and could end up hitting the wall. Take extra special care to ensure your wall padding in these areas is still fully functional to prevent injuries.
Padding thickness
The thickness of wall padding is important for impact resistance. For soft and medium to firm foam, you should opt for padding that is a minimum of 2 inches thick to achieve good impact resistance. If your foam is extra thick then 1.5 inches should be enough. Over time, the result of impact and general wear and tear can have a effect on your wall padding and cause it to thin out and lose impact resistance, so make regular measurements to make sure the padding meets with the nationally accepted safety standards.
Foam standard
One of the most important aspects of your wall padding is its standard. Always check that your existing padding, or any padding you are considering purchasing complies with the ASTM standard for flame spread and impact resistance. Choose a foam which is suitable for protecting athletes from collisions, but is also protected against the spread of fire.
Safety Padding can provide bespoke padding solutions to suit all your requirements, from padded columns to padded posts and padded walls, we have all the components you need to ensure your business remains well protected. We can provide custom-made pads for posts or standard pads are available to order today from our website.
If you would like to find out more about how we can help your business, please contact us or click here to find more examples of our latest safety padding fittings.